the tension over health care reform has taken a dangerous turn. death threats have been made

against some members of the congress. good evening, i'm jim vance. >> i'm wendy rieger. doreen has the night off. bricks have been hurled through windows, a gasoline cut and vulgar phone threats. there were acts of vandali that appear to be politically motivated all across the country, from virginia to arizona. craig melvin joins us live on capitol hill with more on this. >> reporter: you probably remember those health care town hall meetings that frequently deinvolved into screaming matches. this past weekend several law makers say protestors spat on them and shouted racial epithets. they say they have been getting their cues from law makers who long ago abandoned civility. a tea party activist posted what they thought was virginia

congressman tom perrillo's house, but it turned out to be his brother and they wt and kutd a propane tank line. someone destroyed this congressional ofls door in arizona. michigan representative bart stupak released some of the vulgar voice mails he's received. >> congressman stupak, you baby-killing [ bleep ]. >> reporter: wednesday house majority leader steny hoyer said the democratic leadership was genuinely concerned. >> i think we had very serious incidents that occurred over the last 48, 72 hours. >> reporter: virginia congressman jerry connolly has gotten a slew of angry phone calls. >> some that certainly used inappropriate language and certainly some descriptions of the president that were racist in nature.

>> reporter: connolly believes joe wilson's famous scream of "you lie" during president obama's state of the union and shouter of "baby killer" during this past weekend's debate set the tone. >> i think some folks up here need to look in the mirror in terms of what they unleashed. >> reporter: ten congressman have been targeted. wednesday i asked the sergeant of arms at the senate whether his office received specific credible threats aimed at senators. >> yes, there has been. we are working with federal authorities on those. >> reporter: tonight we learned house minority leader join boehner is expected to address the threats of violence and actual violence tomorrow during his weekly press briefing. live at capitol hill, craig melvin. >> thanks, craig. on the hill, health care front tonight. president obama signed an executive order affirming the ban on federal funding on abortions except in cases of rape, incest or if it threatens a woman's life.

in virginia, governor bob mcdonnell signed a law that prohibits people in that state from being forced to purchase health care insurance. investigators believe there is a connection between a murder in mou vernon, virginia, and a suicide in arlington. somebody shot and killed a woman this morning and that crime led police to another disturbing scene. jackie benson is in arlington with more on this. >> reporter: jim, news4 learned the man who committed suicide here in arlington this afternoon is believed to be the suspect in the murder of a woman in fairfax county this morning. investigators say the two had a relationship. about 4:00 p.m. arlington county police officers responded to the 1000 block of south quincy street for report of a man with a gun. when they arrived, the man did something shocking. >> i don't want to give too many

details, but when officers approached the suspect he killed himself. >> reporter: officers learned the car a man had been standing near was the vehicle suspected of being involved in a horrifying crime that occurred hours earlier. at 7:25 a.m. a woman was getting into a car in the 8400 block in the wood lawn area when someone came up and shot her. witnesses saw a gold nissan maxima speed away from the scene. crime scene investigators found a sawed-off shotgun thrown in a nearby yard. >> i was in my kitchen and i heard three shots. my grandson came down and said, grandma, did you hear that noise? >> it was loud. i saw a police cruiser coming by with his lights and sirens on. >> reporter: neighbors say they noticed the car the victim was getting into, a red chrysler with d.c. tags and booster seat parked on the street recently.

at the suicide scene in arlington people gathered, many in tears. the man who shot himself was well known in the neighborhood. fries say they can't believe what happened. the dead man and woman are believed to be in their 20s. their names have not been released. >> jackie benson, thanks. the additional charges tonight in a road rage shooting on a busy virginia highway involves 25-year-old gabriel pulintude who had his 2-year-old daughter in the car. he got into an altercation with a dump truck driver yesterday on southbound i-95 and fired numerous shots at that truck. the truck driver faces an attempted second degree murder charge. police arrested him tonight. >> when someone starts firing in th environment, you could hit any innocent bystander. you have the other factor there is a 2-year-old in the car. this could have ended in a

tragedy. fortunately, it didn't. >> the dump truck operator was cited for reckless driving. in maryland, the state senate narrowly passed a bill that would require drivers to use hands-free devices when they talk on the cell phone. people who get caught would face a $40 fine. that measure moves on to the house of delegates. civil rights icon and activist doherty hite is in intensive care tonight. she was supposed to celebrate her 98th birthday with friends and supporters. they are praying for her speedy recover. she is president emeritus of the national negro foundation of women. she has been a civil rights advocate and educator now more than 75 years.

comingp on news4 at 11:00, an amtrak train slams into a fire truck. we'll show you what happened. >> a local fire fighter accused of crimes against children. >> the airfare wars are in full swing. >> how about our weather? >> today was mild. tomorrow, just as mild, but in way is it going to be pretty. you've got clouds and rain to talk about. >> mike shanahan is talking quarterbacks. wizards reach a record. it ain't good.

a d.c. fire fighter is on leave after being charged in a child abuse case dating back 20 years. michael rasmussen was charg with second degree child abuse earlier thismonth. police say he had sexual contact with a close relative from 1989 through 1996. that relative complained more than a decade ago but police were not able to prove anything. last october rasmussen was accused of child abuse in another case. police investigating that incident revisited the prior accusation and they were finally able to build a case. the military plans to relax the rules of "don't ask, don't tell." the military will no longer discharge gays and lesbians no

longer outed by a third pay. the review process will be the responsibility of officers higher up the chain of command. defense secretary robert gates is expected to announce the changes tomorrow. if you see heightened security around our area, it may be the navy's annual training exercises. they'll take place at naval installations throughout the d.c. area from now until friday. drills will take place at the washington navy yards. the navy support facility in anacostia. the research lab and the facility in suitland, maryland. the goal is to test the response to threats and emergencies. coming up tonight, hollywood mourning the loss of an actor who was part of the "i spy" duo. what happened to trooper, the dog badly injured and found inside a dumpster.

investigators in michigan released video from onboard an amtrak train is a the slams into a fire truck earlier this month. it was traveling from dearborn to chicago when it came upon a ladder truck parked across the tracks. the fire truck was responding to another accident nearby when the train arrived. a police officer was able to move his cruiser out before the impact. fire fighter suffered minor injuries. there is a short window of opportunityo grab summer airfare deals. according to travel experts there are restrictions to keep

in mind, but jetblue is having a sale that ends tonight. one-way fares between d.c. and new york as low as 39 bucks. airtran sale ends tomorrow. flights as low to florida as $73 one way. frontier has a special that ends on friday. the lowest fares out of our area to the west coast destinations are about $160. a unique airline catering to business travelers is offering up a cozy ride to paris called open skies. beginning in may, the airline will fly from dulles to paris. open skies is giving a few other airlines a run for their money with good ticket prices, seats that fold into beds, entertainment consoles and healthy gourmet mes. the airline is owned by british airways. today, president obama declared the district a major disaster area. it comes after the back-to-back blizzards in february. this will free up federal funds

to help the city recover from the severe weather. it will help pay for the massive snow removal operation. the federal emergency management agency will help foot the bill. >> it seems like years ago now, veronica. >> exactly. i know. i certainly have forgotten. what i want to see and what i like are mild temperatures. today upper 60s across the area. close to 70. felt more like a mid april day than late march here. folks out this evening doing strolling around the area because temperatures have been cooperating only in the 50s. 48 is how we started the day today. saw a high of 68 shortly after 3:00. that 68 degree reading makes today the sixth warmest day of the month. our temperatures are in the 50s right now. let's take a look, with dew point temperatures on the rise. more moisture moving in. more cloud cover overhead. winds out of the south at 7 miles per hour. temperatures across the rest of

the area there. d.c., mt. pleasant 54 degrees right now. landover, prince george's 46 degrees. 5 colesville at 52 degrees. we have a light wind at fredericksburg, virginia. one of the parm spots at 73. likely to get close at that tomorrow. 70 and 50 falling off. all with high pressure moving out of here. unfortunately we'll have more cloud cover around the area mostly cloudy by the afternoon. we'll get some of this with the folks through the plains states. midwest around iowa, northwestern illinois, some rain showers. there have been some bigger storms ahead of that low pressure system around texas, around dallas-ft. worth area. thunderstorms coming up through oklahoma. the snow, yes, it's ended in denver. panhandle of oklahoma and texas

getting some of that snow right now. all this part of the weather system that will be quickly moving east our way by about 6:00 or 7:00 p.m. tomorrow. we are likely to see some of the first drops around here. we'll start out with light rain. tomorrow night heavier rain. i think could be moderate rain for the friday morning rush. the system right now though looks as though it should be out of here by about noon time on friday. higher elevations, western maryland might even be ending with a little bit of light snow that isn't going to accumulate. we will get sunshine back late friday before the sun sets. tomorrow morning between 40 and 47 degrees. partly cloudy skies. sun up at 7:05. winds light but picking up by the end of the day. 65 to 68 by the evening as the system gets closer to us. i think friday will be breezy with temperature falling as the rain ends and the system moves out. 52 friday and much cooler in the weekend with that chilly air moving in. 50 to 55 the range. there is a chance the rain on

sunday could get here a little earlier instead of the afternoon. perhaps in the late morning hours. i'll be looking at that a little more tomorrow. back to you. >> thanks, veronica. coming up next, caps, penguins working overtime at verizon center. you might like this.

back to the right? no, back here. how about over here? n-- let's go back to the left. waffling is back at dunkin' donuts. for a short time only, enjoy the return of the delicious oven-toasted waffle breakfast sandwich. america runs on dunkin'. you say caps and penguins.

what else do you need to say? >> it was exciting. >> this was as good as it gets. it wasn't a playoff game but we are getting close. "the washington post" had seven writers at verizon center to break down the caps and penguins. that is a lot more than usual. the arena packed, as usual from the the first row on the glass to the last row of the press box. wouldn't you know it? this one went to overtime and was decided by a wiley veteran who was surprised to even be taking part in the shootout. mike boudreau. there was an actual penguin on hand for this one. second period, no score. nick backstrom with the shot stopped by marc-andre fleury. mike knuble stays with it and pokes it in. third period, caps down 2-1 playing short-handed. stempin steals the puck. watch the change of speed and direction.

oh, yeah. everybody splits, defense, the wrister is good. we are tied at 2-2. 34th goal of the year for semin. 3-3 penguins looking for overtime. jordan stahl grants their wish and beats jose theodore gloveside to overtime. a shootout we go. he just toys with theodore. pens up 2-0 in the shootout. obie has to score or it's over. how about these moves? the grade-a keeping the caps alive. that was on a yo-yo. fourth round of the shootout now, tied at 2-2. mike knuble, a surprise choice in the shootout and it pays dividends. knuble, the wiley vet nets the game-winner. caps beat the pence 4-3 in the shootout. after knuble talked about his surprise selection as a shooter. >> yeah, i was very surprised. didn't get to play in overtime at all so i thought my night was over.

>> did he say why he thought you were a good match there? >> no, no. i told him i got off the ice, i don't like when do you that. don't do that stuff. >> i don't know. i just felt he was going to score. for what, picking him? i thought he was going to score. i ended up feeling he was going to score. that's all. >> bruce boudreau a wise decision going with the gut feeling on mr. knuble. >> moving on to basketball, andray blatche played for the wizards tonight. he actually started. his very public feud with coach flip saunders was squashed. didn't matter. wizards lose again, this time in indiana. to extend their losing streak to a franchise record tying 13 games. flip gives blatche a little

atta-boy before the game starts. somebody did have to score a couple of buckets. blatche up and under here. that is a nice move. he led the way with 21. this one wasn't even close. for every good play dre' makes, he makes a bad play like this. earl watson going the other way. troy murphy says if you are not going to play defense, i'll shoot it right there flip and the wizards lose their 13th straight 99-82. >> mike shanahan spoke to the media at the nfl owners meeting in orlando. he had a glowing review of tim tebow after a private workout. shanahan said he would visit the top four or five quarterbacks in the draft, one-on-one sessions. one redskin noted training camp will be at redskins park in ashburn. on the college basketball front, virginia tech loses 79-72 to rhode island in the nit

semifinals. >> coming up, we'll tell you

robert culp who teamed up with bill cosby in the tv series "i spy" died. he was 79. he hit his head while walking outside his home in hollywood hills. his death has been ruled accidental. "i spy" was considered ground-breaking television because it was the first time an

african-american actor, cosby, starred in a dramatic series. the postal service is one step closer to eliminating saturday deliveries. today the governing board agree to ask the regulatory commission for an opinion on this matter. that change could reportedly save more than $3 billion each year. the commission will review that request next week.

it's definitely expensive having a growing family and it's something that you think about. we try to be conscious of that and plan out our meals so that we caneed everyone on a budget. at giantwe know saving money is important. every time you shop with your card, you can enjoy thousands of real deal savings and weekly specials, like top round lonn broil, $1.99 a pound, and healthy choice entrees, 5 for $10. this week only. it makes me feel good because we're saving money, and that works for me. only with your giant card.

we got a brand-new look at a dog who did beat the odds. this is trooper the pit bull. we found her last august after she was badly injured in southeast d.c., duct taped inside a trash bag inside a dumpster left for dead. look at our girl. she is healthy and loves playing. the humane society says she is completely healed and all she needs is a loving home. a pair of love birds capturing the heart of people in a town in croatia. it happened on this exact day for the past eight years. on march 24th, people get

together to watch the nest of a stork they named melina. eight years ago she partnered with another stork. because of a broken wing, melina has been able to migrate. every year clatere leaves and people wonder, is he coming back? like clock work he does, every year, same date, almost the same hour. he has not yet disappointed. >> wow. >> a lot of women would like to have that. >> the only male i know who does that. yeah. >> we are going to go now.